Troy schools official hired then fired after degree revoked

Troy schools hired Freddie Smith as the interim director of pupil personnel services last month. He made $400 a day, until last week when he was fired because his doctoral degree from the University of Virginia Curry School of Education had been revoked.

Smith was formerly the Pocantico Hills school district superintendent. Last year, The Journal News discovered that part of Smith’s dissertation had been plagiarized. Smith abruptly resigned his $204k job, though he received an $80 severance payout.

Troy superintendent Fadhilika Atiba-Weza fired Smith as soon as he learned the degree had been revoked.